AC Immune SA has landed a potential $2.2 billion deal for its anti-amyloid beta Alzheimer’s disease vaccine, ACI-24.060, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., under which it will get $100 million up front and is eligible to receive an option exercise fee, plus potential development, commercial and sales-based milestones of up to $2.1 billion.
The U.K.’s world-first subscription model for antimicrobials is to be expanded following a successful pilot scheme in which companies are being paid a fixed annual fee for their drugs, regardless of the volume dispensed.
Newco Commit Biologics ApS has arrived on the scene after raising €16 million (US$17.2 million) in a seed round to advance bispecific antibodies that are designed to activate the complement system and direct it to selectively kill cancer cells.
The EMA’s chief medical officer has expressed disquiet that Europe has fallen behind in the development of psychedelic drugs as approved therapies for mental disorders, saying they should be given “a second chance.”
Memo Therapeutics AG has added a further CHF20 million (US$22 million) to its series C, bringing the total for the round to CHF45 million and enabling the company to expand the phase II trial of its lead program, AntiBKV, in neutralizing BK virus infection in immune compromised kidney transplant recipients.
Cancer vaccines specialist Infinitopes Precision Immunomics Ltd. announced the closing of a £12.8 million (US$16.1 million) seed round and outlined plans to start a phase I/IIa study of the lead program in the third quarter of this year.
Researchers have identified enzymes in gut microorganisms that could cleave A and B antigens from red blood, transmuting them to O negative cells. This is “a decisive step forward” in the quest to develop a universal donor blood that can be administered to people of any blood group without eliciting a harmful immune response, according to Maher Abou Hachem of the Technical University of Denmark, who co-led the research.
Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA added heft to the data supporting evenamide, reporting positive top-line results from a phase II/III placebo-controlled trial of the glutamate inhibitor in patients with chronic schizophrenia who were receiving a second-generation antipsychotic, but having an inadequate response to that treatment.
The industry in the U.K. is starting to get concerned about the U.S. Biosecure Act and the possible impact on its ability to use Chinese service providers, and the implications for future dealmaking with U.S.-based companies.
